Best Friends(?) Forever
by reginleif-valkyrie
Summary: Mostly the scenes in Origin where you follow Gibari and Ladekahn around with some budding boys love thrown in. No likey, no read.
1. Chapter 1

**This games series doesn't get enough love and Gibari/Ladekahn really don't get enough love. Anyway, I took the chuck from Origins where you actually meet Gib and Kahn, tweeked it, and made it into a budding boys love. A lot of the diolauge comes from those scenes. Thank you Namco for making one of my favorite games (there by owning all of the rights) and to you, dear reader, enjoy.**

"Uncle Ram, we can finish the lesson later!" King Ladekahn all but whinned. "Any minute now they'll be bringing in the day's catch down in Nashira! I cant' miss THAT!" Before anyone could stop him, the young king put his sword down. "Gib! Come by when you're done. You'd better be there!" He turned to run off.

"Sire, come back!" Rambari tried. "We've barely even started!"

Hearing him, but choosing to ignore him, Ladekahn ran off going past three...two people and a paramachina. Who were they? He didn't really care right now. He wanted to see the catch. These people could wait for later, or leave if they didn't like waiting.

Ladekahn decided that maybe he should say something to Rambari, maybe save himself the long lecture Rambari would give later. "Don't worry, I won't be long! A king's gotta know his kingdom!" He felt he had a valid point. A good king knows everything about his people and kingdom. "Gib, I'll be waiting!"

Not waiting for a responce or the posibility of getting caught, Ladekahn continued to race off.

"Sire!" Rambari ran up the training ground stairs. "King Ladekahn! Come back here!"

The young king was no where to be seen.

Rambari took notice of the humans and paramachina, but right now, finding King Ladekahn was more important. They could be delt with later.

Gibari carelessly walked past the three and his father. "I'm going, too, Pops."

"Gibari, blast it! What kind of rubbish are you putting into the king's head!" Rambri snapped at his son. "Now he's off to stare at fish guts! You know the legends! Disaster will befall our land the year the king sees Nashira's catch!" Did he not teach his son these important rules since his birth?

"You and your myths. Tell it to the cloudgulls, old man. Besides, I didn't put anything into Kahn's head." What made Rambari think Ladekahn listened to Gibari any more than him? "He's always been like that." He turned from Rambari and headed for the door. "Later."


	2. Chapter 2

The moment the door shut behind Gibari, he saw Ladekahn was waiting for him.

"About time you showed up." Ladekahn smiled. "Come on." He grabbed Gibari's wrist. "Let's go, let's go."

He pulled on Gibari, but the king's strength was no match for the other boy's.

"Hold on, Kahn." Gibari easily yanked him back. "You know they're not just going to let you simply walk out of the castle."

"Of course I know that." Ladekahn smirked. "Sneaking out is always more fun."

Gibari had to admit, sneaking out was fun.

Dodging the guards as they went, the boys easily made it to the large library. Gibari never really went into this room. So many books, it made him cross-eyed.

Ladekahn laughed slightly at Gibari's dizzy like expression. So Gibari wasn't the brightest fish in the river, nobody was as kind and honest as Gib and that, in Kahn's book, ment much more than intelligence. Anybody can be book smart, but only a few could be like Gibari.

It was probably never going to happen, but Ladekahn knew he could trust Gibari with his life, just like Rambari.

With Gibari by his side, Ladekahn was confident he could do anything.

A slight blush came to the king's cheeks. 'Okay, maybe that was going a little far.' He watched Gibari hold his head as if he was in pain. 'Still, what would I do without Gib?'

"Ah, man, Kahn, this place is not a place I should stay in for long."

"All right, all right." Ladekahn went over to the small bust of the first Diadem king. He took it by the head and gently pulled forward.

A few gears could be heard turning and the bookcase beside Gibari slowly swung open with an eery 'eeek' noise. Behind the bookcase was a passageway.

Gibari curiously looked in. "Kahn, is this what I think it is?"

"Yup, this is the secret passage the king takes if he ever needs to escape the castle due to a raid." Ladakahn almost snorted at the idea. "If my kingdom's ever in danger, I'm not running away like some coward. They'll have to drag me away."

"No one would ever get that far." Gibari practically puffed out his chest. "As long as I'm here, nobody will ever get to you."

Ladekahn couldn't figure out why he suddenly got embarrassed. He slightly shoved Gibari. "Come on, Gib! We're wasting time!"


	3. Chapter 3

Gibari had never been a big fan of caves. He wasn't afraid of them or anything, he just didn't like not being able to see the clear blue skies and feel the wind against his skin.

Ladekahn didn't seem to mind. Nothing fazed him. It made Gibari a little jealous. Perfect king material. Perfect Kahn.

"Gib?" Ladekahn was a couple steps infront. "Are you coming or not?"

"Right, sorry."

"Watch your step." The king cautiuned. "The moisture in here makes it slippery."

Gibari nodded. The last thing he needed right now was to slip and look like a moron infront of his friend. "So, where does this tunnel come out at?"

"It should be close to the Lesser Celestial River." Ladekahn looked back over his shoulder as he spoke. "The idea was that nobody would bother with the Lesser Celestial River if an invation happened or expect a secret...wah!" Ladekahn's foot slipped out from under him and he went backwards.

Acting on instinct, Gibari lunged forward and caught his king. A single arm around the waist. Eyes locked.

An awkward silence seemed to fill the cave. Ladekahn's face grew more and more red the longer this went on.

"Um, Gib?" Kahn managed to stutter out.

Getting embarassed for reasons he couldn't explain, Gibari pulled his arm back and without the support of his arm, Ladekahn fell backwards onto his butt. Realizing his mistake, Gibari paniced a little. "Crud, Kahn, are you okay?" He offered his hand.

"Yeah." Ladekahn took the hand and let Gibari pull him to his feet. "Nice of you to drop me."

"S..sorry."

The awkward silence returned.

The young knight had never noticed how slender Kahn's waist was before. It was so tiny, like a girl's. If he had tightened his hold, could he have accidently crushed his best friend? His best friend with the most beautiful silver hair. Wait...what?!

Ladekahn stared intently at his boot toes. What the hell was wrong with him? So he slipped and Gib caught him. Why was he so embarassed by it? It wasn't the first time and it sure wouldn't be the last.

Gibari cleared his throat. "The, ah, glubber fish."

"Right." Ladekahn absentmindedly twisted the finger of his glove. "We should...go." Refusing to meet Gibari's gaze, he quickly walked by. He knew he should be more careful as not to slip again, but he just didn't care. They needed to get out of this cave!


	4. Chapter 4

Exiting the cave gave the boys one of two ways to go: The Cloud Passage or deeper into the Lesser Celestial River. Ladekahn went towards the Cloud Passage.

"Kahn, that's the wrong way." Gibari grabbed Ladekahn's wrist and pulled him the other way.

Ripping his wrist free, Ladekahn looked around. The river was raging fast. "Aw, look, Gib." The king walked down the rocks careful not to slip. "We'll never get across with these currents." He turned away from the river to watch Gibari jump down the rocks without a care of falling. "Why couldn't we save time and take the Cloud Passage like everyone else!"

"Take it easy, Kahn." Gibari stood beside him. "The Cloud Passage is unstable this time of year. You can't walk because the road's all broken up. Trust me, the Lesser Celestial River is way faster."

"Really?" Kahn looked up at the Cloud Passage above. His gaze came back down to his friend.

"Hey, which one of us used to be a fisherman? The rivers and roads here are like my backyard."

"Ok." Ladekahn paused. "But how do we cross?"

Gibari looked around. Where was it?

Ah, there it was! The strange chimney like machine with a water wheel attacked.

"That's where this thing comes in." Gibari walked over to it. "It's for making clouds. The fishermen of Nashira use it to move between the Lesser Celestial River and the Cloud Passage while they look for the best spot to fish."

"I get it." Ladekahn nodded. "So wherever we can't cross, we just take a detour through the Cloud Passage. That's pretty smart." He smirked. "For you."

" 'For you..." Ha! Let's give this thing a spin, huh?" Gibari took hold of the lever. "Here we go..." He pulled hard on the lever.

The machine rattled a little and a few puffs of smoke emerge but nothing else.

"Eh? What's wrong with it?" Gibari was confused. "Spin, dammit! Spin! SPIN!" Gibari felt a little panic. He did NOT want to look like an idiot in front of Ladekahn more than he already did and after all that boasting too.

'Come on' Gibari begged mentally as he pulled the lever. 'Please work'. He pulled the lever a second time.

"Gib...are you sure you know how to work that thing?" Ladekahn was starting to lose his confidence. Gibari did a lot of stupid things, but this was just...

He wanted the machine to work for Gibari. He believed in it so badly that it was depressing to see it fail.

"O-Of course I do!" Gibari tried to laugh it off.

The machine sputtered and then shot out pinkish clouds.

"There, see? It's all taken care of." Gibari jumped on to the cloud stream and went straight up.

"..." Kahn hesitated before jumping too.


End file.
